Cooling partition for domestic refrigerators



Sept. 9, 1941.

c. G. VRETMAN COOLING PARTITION FOR DOMESTIC REFRIGERATORS Filed' Nov.V 10, 1939 Patented Sept. 9, 1941 UNITED STATE S PATENT OFFICE COOLING PARTITION FOR DOMESTIC REFRIGERATORS 7 Claims.

This invention relates to refrigerators and particularly to cooling partitions for the type of refrigerators usually used for household purposes.

An object of this invention is to provide a cooling partition for dividing the housing of a refrigerator into the desired compartments and at the same time, with the assistance of a novel form or arrangement or insulation, serve for cooling the several compartments to the desired relative temperatures.

A further object of this invention is to provide a cooling partition for domestic refrigerators in which means are integrally provided so as to concentrate the cooling effect in a freezing compartment, adjacent compartments being maintained at desired relative temperatures somewhat higher than that of the freezing compartment.

A still further object of this invention is to provide a novel combinative relationship of a refrigerant evaporator in the form of a flat plate, a heat distributing liquid chamber, and an insulating air chamber.

Still another object of this invention is to so arrange the dimensions, proportions and relative locations of the elements of a combined evaporator plate, liquid plate and insulating air chamber as to maintain the desired relative temperatures at the proper positions in the refrigerator.

In the accompanying drawingseveral embodiments of the invention are illustrated by Way of example.

Fig. 1 is a vertical sectional view of a portion of a domestic refrigerator divided into compartments by flat refrigerating elements according to the present invention;

Fig. 2 is a view similar to Fig. 1 of another embodiment, with further portions of the refrigerator housing omitted; and

Figs. 3 and 4 are vertical sectional views, similar to Fig. 2, of further embodiments of the invention.

In the drawing, numeral I indicates the insulated housing of a domestic refrigerator, the lower part oi which is shown broken away and omitted for the sake of simplicity of illustration. The interior chamber of the refrigerator is divided into a refrigerating compartment 2, an upper storage compartment l, and a lower storage compartment 5 by a pair of horizontally disposed refrigerating elements 6 and 6'. The freezing compartment 2 is located between the two refrigerating elements and a portion of the space between said elements may be divided oil? by a vertical partition 9.

InV the embodiment shown in Fig. 1, each refrigerator element comprises a fiat evaporator I0 and a liquid chamber II or I3 containing a liquid which will not freeze at' the temperature to which it will be subjected, part of which is in close heat exchange relationship with the evaporator plate and part of which is insulated from the evaporator plate by a closed iiat air chamber I2 or Il. The relative proportions of the area of the evaporator plates that are directly in heat exchange contact with the liquid chamber and the areas thereof that are insulated by the air chamber will depend on a desired relationship of temperatures in the several compartments. If it is desired that the upper compartment shall be relatively cold, the area of liquid chamber I I contacting the evaporator plate I0 will be larger than if it is desired that the upper compartment shall be relatively warmer. The lower cooling element I3 is substantially similar to the upper cooling element except that its relationship of parts is reversed, the evaporator plate being uppermost and the liquid chamber being lowest.

It is obvious that in operation the compartment indicated at 2 will be colder than any other compartment, this being due to the fact that it is directly in contact with both evaporators and is insulated from the upper and lower compartments by air chambers I2 and Il. The next coldest compartment will be the compartment I5 on the opposite side of partition il from the freezing compartment 2, this being due to the fact that it is in contact both above and below with the evaportor plates, but, since the insulating air chambers I2 and I4 do not extend adjacent chamber I5, more of the heat absorbed by the adjacent portion of the evaporator will be drawn from compartment 4 than is the case at compartment 2, and thus the temperature of compartment I5 will be higher.

In place of insulating air chambers I2 and I4, other forms of insulation, such as asbestos plates, may be substituted. The relative extent of the insulation over the surface of the evaporator plates will depend on the relationship of temperatures desired to be attained.

In Fig. 2 of the drawing the arrangement of elements is substantially similar to that shown in Figure 1, but it will be observed that insulating plates or sheets I6, I1 have been placed adjacent the evaporator plates within compartment I5. This prevents to some extent the exchange of heat between the air compartment I' and the evaporator plates so that the compartmeni*l I5' will be maintained at a higher temperature than if the insulation I6, II were not provided and naturally higher than that of corresponding compartment I5 in Fig. 1. At the same time the insulating plates I6, I'I concentrate the cooling eiect of the adjacent portions of the evaporator into the liquid plates opposite thereto, so that the cooling eifect of the liquid plates is increased and the temperatures of the storage compartments 4 and 5 are reduced.

Fig. 3- of. the drawing illustrates that the extent of the insulating air chambers I2 and Il is to some extent a matter of choice, and as indicated at I2 and I4' may be extended beyond the vertical partition 9. This has the effect of still further reducing the temperatures of the compartments 2 and I5 and reducing the cooling effect of heat transfer liquid plates on the upper and lower storage compartments.

The embodiment of the invention shown in Fig. 4 is similar to that of Fig. 1 except that the vertical partition .9 of Fig. 1 is omitted. In this embodiment the extent of the insulation I2 and I4 is a matter of choice depending on the relative temperatures desired in the several compartments. The greater the extent of the insulation the greater will be the concentration of the cold in the freezing compartment, and the greater the extent of contact between the evaporator plate and the liquid chambers II and I3 the greater will be the absorption of heat by the evaporators from the storage compartments l and 5.

I claim:

1. In a cooling partition for domestic refrigerators, a iiat evaporator plate extending horizontally in a refrigerator housing, a completely closed liquid chamber adjacent said evaporator and in heat exchange contact therewith over a portion of its area, and a fiat insulator extending between said evaporator and said liquid chamber throughout a portion of their mutual extent, said insulator serving to regulate the heat exchange between said evaporator and liquid chamber and thereby to concentrate the cooling effect of the evaporator.

2. In a domestic refrigerator, walls forming a chamber; cooling partitions extending horizontally across said chamber and dividing the chamber into compartments, said partitions each comprising a flat evaporator, a ilat liquid chamber in contact with said evaporator over only a portion of their mutual extent, said liquid chamber containing a liquid which will not freeze at the temperature to which it is to be subjected, and serving to evenly distribute the cooling effect of the evaporator throughout its extent to eliminate temperature zones below the freezing point of water on its surface opposite the associated evaporator, and means forming an insulating space extending between said evaporator and said liquid chamber throughout the other portion of their mutual extent, said insulating space serving to diminish the heat exchange between said evaporator and liquid chamber and to concentrate the cooling effect of the evaporator; and a vertical partition extending between said horizontal partitions.

3. In a domestic refrigerator, walls forming a chamber, cooling partitions extending horizontally across said chamber and dividing the chamber into compartments, said partitions each comprising a flat evaporator, a completely closed flat liquid-containing chamber in contact with said evaporator over only a portion of their mutual extent, said liquid chamber containing a liquid which will not freeze at the temperature to which it is to be subjected, and serving to evenly distribute the cooling effect of the evaporator throughout its extent to eliminate temperature zones below the freezing point of water on its surface opposite the associated evaporator, a vertical plate dividing on.' a part of the compartment between said cooling partitions, and means forming a fiat insulator extending between the portions of the evaporator and liquid chamber adjacent one part of the compartment formed between said evaporators and terminating substantially at the vertical plate, said insulator serving to concentrate the cooling eect of the evaporation in the adjacent part of the compartment therebetween.

4. In a domestic refrigerator, walls forming a chamber; cooling partitions extending horizontally across said chamber vertically spaced apart and dividing the chamber into compartments, one of which is located between said partitions, said partitions each comprising a flat evaporator, and a flat, closed liquid chamber in contact with the associated evaporator over only a portion of their mutual horizontal extent; said liquid chambers containing liquid which will not freeze at the temperature to which it is to be subjected, and serving to evenly distribute the cooling effect of the evaporators throughout their extent to eliminate temperature zones below the freezing point of water on their surfaces opposite the associated evaporators; a vertical plate dividing off a part of the compartment located between said cooling partitions; means forming flat insulators extending between the portions of the evaporators and liquid chambers adjacent one part of the compartment located between said cooling partitions and terminating substantially at the vertical plate, said fiat insulators serving to concentrate the cooling effect of the evaporation in the adjacent part of the compartment located between said cooling partitions; and means forming flat insulators respectively located between the evaporators and the other part of the compartment between the cooling partitions.

5. In a domestic refrigerator, walls forming a chamber; cooling partitions extending horizontally across said chamber and dividing the chamber into compartments, one of which is located between said partitions; said partitions each comprising a flat evaporator, and a fiat, closed liquid chamber in contact with said evaporator over only a portion of their mutual extent; said liquid chambers containing liquid which will not freeze at the temperature to which it is to be subjected, and serving to evenly distribute the cooling effect of the evaporators throughout the extent of said liquid chambers to eliminate temperature zones below the freezing point of water on the surfaces of said chambers opposite the associated evaporators; a vertical plate dividing off a part of the compartment between said cooling partitions; and means forming fiat insulators respectively extending between the portions of the evaporators and associated liquid chambers adjacent part of one part of the compartment formed between said cooling partitions and terminating substantially at the vertical plate, said insulators serving to concentrate the cooling eifect of the evaporationin the adjacent part of the compartment between said cooling partitions.

6. In a domestic refrigerator, walls forming a chamber; cooling partitions extending horizontally across said chamber and dividing the chamber into compartments, one of which is located between said partitions; said partitions each comprising a fiat evaporator, and a at, closed liquid chamber in contact with said evaporator over only a portion of their mutual extent; said liquid chambers containing liquid which will not freeze at the temperature to which it is to be subjected, and serving to evenly distribute the cooling effect of the evaporators throughout their extent to eliminate temperature zones below the freezing point of water on their surfaces opposite the respectively associated evaporators; a vertical plate dividing off a part of the compartment ,between said cooling partitions; and means forming iiat, closed insulating air spaces respectively extending between the portions of the evaporators and liquid chambers adjacent one part of the compartment between the cooling partitions and a portion of the other part thereof, said insulating air spaces serving to concentrate the cooling eiiect of the evaporation in the adjacent part of the compartment between said partitions.

7. In a cooling partition for domestic refrigerators, a 'fiat evaporator plate extending hori-v 

